Uh oh, this is it. Chapter 22!

My Best Friends' Baby

Chapter 22

Troy's POV

"Troy?"

"Gabriella, hey…." I hadn't expected to run into her here, but given that she still lived here, went to East High and had friends that she hung out here with, who was I kidding. I had to know she was going to be here. That's kinda why I was here wasn't it? I would never admit to coming here in hopes of seeing her and after the 6th time home, she'd finally showed up.

"Uhm…how are you? How's school?" She asked me after a moment.

I shrugged. "College is…hard, I guess. It's nice to be home."

"Home is where the heart is right?"

If only she knew how true that was. I coughed awkward, having nothing appropriate to answer with. "Uhm, what about you? How's senior year?"

She smiled briefly. "Hard," she answered with a heavy sigh, causing me to chuckle at her a bit.

"Yeah, you'll say that until next year."

"What you actually miss high school?"

I shrugged. "Occasionally. I have more freedom now, but the work is…I get nightmares just thinking about it."

She giggled. "I don't think college will be a problem for me."

"Of course not," I said before I could catch myself. "You've always been the smartest person I've known, even now with new territory."

I watched as she tilted her head down towards the ground. "Yeah, I guess. I just meant that I don't think I'd miss high school. I mean it's not like I'm going anywhere anyway…"

"Don't doubt yourself. You ARE going places, why would you even say that?"

"Because I'm not Troy. A lot has changed in the past year and I'm not sure college is for me still…"

Gabriella not going to college? The idea seemed so foreign, I had a hard time believing that she herself had spoken it to me. But it didn't take a genius to pick up where she was coming from. "Don't…just because, it doesn't mean you can't go. Get out of here, do bigger and better things than Albuquerque..."

"Troy," she cut me off. I thought she was angry, but there was a slight smile on her face. "Even if I wanted to go, I couldn't. But I'm okay with that."

"Why not?" What in the world could stop her from going off to better her life?

She shrugged. "Life is what it is." There was an awkward pause before she gestured down at her soiled clothes. "Uhm, excuse me, I have to go wash this off."

Before I could protest, she had squeezed past me and down the last few booths and into the women's restroom. I stood staring behind her briefly before glancing over and quickly finding Sharpay and Taylor lounging at a table not too far away. Both of them were trying to be discrete in their staring so it was obvious they'd caught the full encounter. Looking back to the table of people I'd come with, they suddenly hadn't seemed as interesting as Gabriella right now.

Without a second thought I was standing outside the bathroom waiting when Gabriella emerged again minutes later. I caught and tugged her arm softly as she came out, making my presence known. "Talk to me, Brie."

Instantly, as we made eye contact, I saw her eyes water. "Don't do that," she whispered.

"What?"

"This! Be you! Act all caring and understanding and loving towards me even though I did you wrong and I don't deserve it…"

"Stop."

"No, you stop! I was just starting to get over this! I was just getting used to not having you; that I screwed up big time and that this is my life now and I have to deal with it. I understand how much I hurt you by lying especially about something so big, but I'm young and dumb and I'm allowed to make mistakes. So once again, I'm sorry Troy, but don't torture me."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "I love you Gabriella, like I love you, love you as way more than a friend; more than I should. While you did hurt me, that doesn't change anything, I'm always going to love you as more than a friend. I got mad at you for keeping secrets from me, but I've kept this one for you since I was 11 years old and to be completely honest these feelings, this feeling, it's not ever going away and I wouldn't want it to."

"I thought that…"

"It doesn't matter. I was upset, but I should have put myself in your shoes. You were scared and like you said young and dumb. We lost her, but we don't have to lose each other too. And I'm not saying we should jump into this, but I don't see why we can't be friends again and work our way up…I miss my best friend. There's no one else like you in this world for me."

Out of breath from so much talking, I stared back at her wet, yet gorgeous face looking back at me too. "We didn't lose her," she started slowly. "I couldn't do. After you left and I…letting her go didn't seem right, so I chose not to..."

"Wait…you didn't…?"

"No. That's why my last year has been hard, that's why I probably won't do anything more than online schooling after I graduate. But I wouldn't trade this for anything. She's my life now."

"I…you…" I could even fathom in my head what she was telling me, much less form words out loud. My daughter, our daughter. She was still here, within reach, being raised and cared for by someone I knew; knew and loved. "Can I see her?"

REG POV

Gabriella unlocked the front door to her house 30 minutes later. After saying goodbye to the girls and briefly meeting Troy's group of friends, he followed her home where they stood out on the porch for a second in awkward yet comfortable silence as Troy prepared himself.

"Mom?"

"Gabi?" Her mother came walking out of the kitchen, a dishcloth over her shoulder and bottle in her hand. "I wasn't expecting you home for hours…Oh!"

"Hi Mrs. Montez," Troy waved sheepishly. "How are you?"

"F…fine," she stumbled upon one simple word in her shock. "Uhm, how about yourself? It's a nice surprise seeing you here. Home for the weekend?"

"Yes ma'am. Everything's good…"He glanced over to Gabriella.

"Well," she stepped forward pressing Troy into a quick hug. "Don't be a stranger." She turned and handed the warm bottle to Gabriella. "I was just going to feed her, but I'll give you two some privacy. I'll be in the office."

Watching her mother leave, Gabriella turned to Troy with a smile. "Well come meet your daughter."

He returned her smile, following her up the stairs, his excitement making him take them two at a time. They came to the guest room that was next to Gabriella's. He could see already the changes in the color scheme and furniture, a decent sized white crib with pink trim that matched most of the pink coating the room housing a small figure that he assumed to be a part of him.

Gabriella walked forward, leaning in and picking up that figure as he watched. Her curls that matched his own hair color, her hazel brown eyes, and gurgling baby talk. Troy moved hesitantly toward the two.

"Is that…"

"No it's someone else's baby," Gabriella joked, then nodded in seriousness. "Yeah, she's ours."

"I…wow," He'd been staring at her from the distance, but Gabriella moved closer, gently nudging his arms. "Hold her?" Without answering vocally, he held his arms out awkwardly, the best he knew on how to prepare for holding a baby, only to having Gabriella correctly his placement slightly before he was holding the tiny person on his own.

Gabriella still had the bottle in her hand and she handed it over quietly. "Just put it at her lips, she'll know what it is." Following her instructions, he watched in awe as the little girl latched her lips on the nipple of the bottle and drank the formula hungrily, her eyes focused on the new person in front of her.

"She has to get used to seeing you in the flesh," Gabriella added her own input to the magical moment between father and daughter. "She's already watching you like you'll disappear."

Troy raised his eyebrows, taking his eyes off her for a fraction of a second. "She knows me?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I'm sure. Your picture stays up there all the time."

It was now that he'd noticed the picture of him that was taped to one of the bars of the crib. It had originally been a picture of him and Gabriella together, he knew, but she'd ripped it in half to keep the focus on him. "I can't believe…she's…my daughter."

Gabriella nodded, enjoying watching the two bond; it was a precious moment she thought she'd never get to see. "Troy Bolton meet Kayla Marie Bolton."

At the sound of her words, his head turned to give her his full attention and she could already see the tears forming in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. "Wha...why'd you…"

"I had to. She's a Bolton. It wouldn't be right to keep her from knowing who she is."

"I…"Troy couldn't even form words, so he moved as close to Gabriella as he could with Kayla and captured her lips in a passionate lock with his own. It only lasted a moment because he wanted to be careful not to jostle or hurt Kayla, but when they pulled back, he rested his forehead on hers for a second more. "We're…we're going to work on this…on us. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure that we are a family."

And for Gabriella, that was all she'd needed; just the promise that someday they would be okay, they could be whole and complete in each other. She pressed a short kiss to his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder as they both watched their miracle drift into sleep nestled comfortably in her father's arms.

After all they'd been through the past year or so, the fact that one sentence would fix them, would get them back on the way to being them, it made everything they'd felt, witnessed, and done that much more special.

So I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't a big fan of the ending and I wrote it. I just feel like it was weak and a little uneventful and sort of a filler and I hate to go out on a story with a filler chapter. So because of how long it took me just to finish this story from publish to today and just how sucky I think it ended with those untied and loose ends, I am proposing a sequel to this story.

Of course it'll cover how Gabriella and Troy deal with their relationship and getting over issues with the past and of course co-parenting their daughter. I'll only write it however if you guys want it, because I feel like you deserve a sequel, but if you don't want it, I can always move on. It wouldn't be posted right away of course because I'd need time to plan it out and write. If this turns out a go, I'd plan for maybe first post around Thanksgiving just because I know I'll be super busy when school starts back especially with me working this time around.

So with that said, I'm gonna put a poll on my profile page about it. So just stop by and let me know yes or no on the sequel idea and I'll probably keep it open until I go back to school in August and once the decision has been made I'll work it out and either there will be or there won't be. You guys are deciding here, so choose wisely and thank you as always for reading and reviewing. You keep me going and that's really something that I can still do this. I would have never thought 5 years ago I'd still be on FF and want to be writing and posting but I am and plan to until I can't anymore, so your support will always mean the world to me.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

~Among-Stars~